Released on Cockaigne, June 2009.
all lyrics written by Dave Graney. Copyright Control
knock yourself out
as a concept
I know ......incredible
but I’m a reality
knock yourself out
go your hardest
you’re only human .......so am I
rock’n’roll is where I hide, how great was that?
you’re just too hip baby
don’t mess with the blood
I’m not afraid to be heavy
wild stuff, lke an oil well blowin'
it never stopped
I never tapped out
all i did was plug in and wail
I went down south
into the underwirld then up I flew!
I was playin with the rooms
I’d make the walls disappear
even when I was an insider I was an outsider
I knew the time all the while
I’m a man
I stuck my head and my hand up
I stood up
knock yoursdelf out
as a concept
I know .........incredible
but the world deserves somethin' great once in a while
I’m gonna release your soul
did you hear about the melbounre mafia?
I told you about that
I’m in the future now
Comrades! I have marched on! ........I address you from above
there he goes with his eye out!
my schtick weighs a ton
gold!
where did this shit come from
where does it go?
newspapers need me radio needs me
I’m a volunteer
nobody asked me to be so great
Kyle and Jackie O .......thin gruel .................sav soup
thats the coloured water when you take the hot dogs out
death by a thousand sucks
that guy would give a dogs arse heartburn
je suis le grand bouffe
un tres grande homme!
shitly!shitly!
I write in the street
I pick up on the word thats dropped in the open for anybody to hear
I like the stuff thats been handled
I talk out loud
I’m in the mix
in the crowd
I ain’t no joke
shocking and awesome
I use the tongues
actually , you do know what I’m talkin’ about!
as a concept
I know .....incredible
but I’m a reality
knock yourself out
go your hardest
you’re only human ...........so am I
I’m a man
I stuck my head and my hand up
I stood up
knock yoursdelf out
go your hardest
you’re only human
so am I
haters! ignorers more like! get in the queue
defend your radio station
defend channel nine
I can’t know what you mean, now what I mean?
night of the wolverine
who could bte my style
suck it and go blind!
theywould die
how much further could they take it?
give up!
I’ve got dimenssions
I’ve got form
I will have always been here before
It was then or never
back in those days when when I was deep in action
way down in the bottom of the street
breaking out - finding my feet
now I look back - from the clear air and see that as my mythic time
I never knew
it was then or never
theres the boy leaving- theres the boy dreaming
theres the boy gasping for air - theres the boy changed - coming home
the leaving and the returning heres the man going over the story
trying to fit it all in
trying to put it all together
was there a pattern down below?
down on earth - the boy races across a giant letter X
up above the man sits and sees a word with a tiny figure scurrying across
and the women when you were struggling - giant and careless
and the women when you were coming and going - tiny and pleading
and the waiting because you knew you had to wait
time was of the essence - and the timing of the time - the flux
you could squirrel away a day and come back later and it all be still
up, still alive
it seemed other times
you turned to speak and the scene jumped out of your mind
it was then or never
and who would have believed that one day we would be so weak that we would
look back on those days of struggle and torment , those days when we were
under the ground in violent struggle,
who would have seen then the sight of us looking back and seeing ourselves
in some sort of wonderland?
there we were looking back at ourselves
like lost shoppers in an endless mall - with no money and no credit and
no id- no ID
and we've walked into the strangest shop - and there we are
blind to the future - blind to the past - stuck in the present
still blasting off - spending fuel at an incredible rate
flying by - missing stops - not keeping in touch
swimming out way too far - "come back!"…we yell - from
the middle of the lake…
when we had nothing - what we had we treasured so
it was terrible to want so much so hard - that you put up with so much
and made the best of so little
I must be getting stupid
Honky tonk rope a dope
I've had to go in closer to people than I would've really
wanted to
Ideally we would have never met
I'd have popped you so quick you wouldn't know
I'd have been quick and clean
my hands and mouth and and feet
are trained for artful destruction
I know the moves I have to make so you'll never get up again
you've felt my breath upon your neck
I left a tooth on your glove
to get a game going
I had to let you come in close and hung on so you'd go some kind of distance
I took the fight to you on a plate
I was bored
you had a night out
ideally we would have never met
the game got small while I was training
I've had to go in closer to people than I really wanted to
I was built for a more remote style
more detached
punching your lights out from one inch away
while holding your eyes up on a ridge
bodysnatcher blues
you’re just like me
I can tell
you’re not really here
you’re not yourself
the faraway look
your voice trailing off
you’re just like me
I can tell
how many of us are there?
are we all made of sand?
you’re makin the wrong moves
tryin to distract
not really payin attention
not expectin anyone to notice
you’re just like me
I can tell
god help us all
there’s somebody there
but nobody is here
nothin is as it seems
we are all in the most slack disguise
you’re just like me
I can tell
you don’t care much anymore
but you don’t not care enough to give yourself up to this world
you’re just like me
I can tell
your mind is somewhere else
you’re not really yourself
thank christ we’re not drivin
we’re just along for the ride
we don’t like it
but we don’t know any other way to get by
you’re just like me
I can tell
I’ve smoked you out
you like it and you don’t
you don’t have the energy anymore
to be on
to be singing
dylan the indie fake
the recurring flake
pushed onto the stage
never asked to be here
never volunteered
pure as nothin’ aahhh...heyyyy!
dylan the indie fake
I mean cant you see the mascara and pancake
minstrelsy !
blackface! gee did I do that?
I’m not sayin its bad, the fake the forgery sometimes refines whatever
it started from and takes it to another , later world
a different context
out of context
it concentrates the power
just dont gimme none of that mystic, holy bullshit
dylan the indie fake
the recurring flake
dylan the indie fake
hes been tryin to tell you for year snow
hes pointin at somethin and makin faces and you just staer
youre always askin for ashtrays
dylan the indie fake
he was just seein how much liberty he could take
all dressed up liek a regency rake
dylan the indie fake
I need my guitar
I need to play some stoopid licks over and over and let my mind out to
wander
whie I make the shapes and move the box
play some old songs, play omethin’ new
follow a train of string somewhere
I need my guitar
that might sound naff toa civilian
all you platers
you know what I’m talkin’ about
I need my guitar
I need my guitar
I‘ve got two hands
one picks
the otehr makes the shapes
one dampens
one hammers on
I need my guitar
I need my guitar
to cool my mind and lay a web
a chart ove rmy scattered thoughts
like a navigator crossin’ an unknown sea
I got to step off and sail away
I need my guitar
I need to make somethin’ out of a foolish notion
to string somethin’ out as far as it will hold
and move it down a tone
I’m sittin ata station
I’m feelin antsy
I want to run my fingers across a fretboard
I need my guitar
I need to be idling and connected to something else
a thought that I can play again but slower
I need my guitar
Pic - Dave Western.
Sellout!
we were movin right along
shufflin down the footpath
then a bridge and a cul de sac
everybody turned around and looked
SELL OUT!
while you can
SELL OUT!
youd be mad not to!
time was people cared about what they were
they were composed
they had a story
a beginning and an end
hope was held out
SELL OUT!
while you can!
you dont know what youve got in a bank
a public bank- mob consciousness
you strayed into the circle and were surrounded
you cant get out
SELL OUT!
while you can!
SELL OUT!
before they move onto somebody else
you dont know how much youve got left in your tank
youve been pulled along by the crowd this far
how long would you have lasted by yourself?
and now theyve turned on you for some reason
SELL OUT!
quick!
you got the look
SELL OUT!
while you can!
somethin you did has clicked with this room
do it again!
SELL OUT!
before the tide turns !
and you know it will
SELL OUT!
while you can!
it used to be a perjorative term of abuse
once upon a time people gave a shit
SELL OUT!
while you can!
back when everybody wanted out
when there was a huge mass in the middle
and the wagons circled and wild ones whooped and hollered all through
the night
SELL OUT!
while you can!
it was a shame
a public execution of the lame
now of course
we live in simpler times
and to not take the money and run is the biggest crime of all
cos theres nuthin to do and nowhere to go
and the cycloptic gaze goes down and around liek a mad searchlight on
opening night
and the crowd hasnt gathered for no show
and no one is here
and they gotta find an it girl or a sweater boy
and that person has gotta take the cake
SELL OUT!
you know you cant win
and neither can you lose any more than you can now
if it gets to be your turn
if you click
if you get into a groove
you must work it all you can while you can
cos the mob can always turn
turn ugly
and youre still the game but you are being played to death
throwin one into the world
the madness of my cods
the codness of my being
pulling my love down from wherever it was
pulling me back down to earth
under the earth
a cavern of flesh
dank and vegetable
takin my mind out of it
I was here a moment ago
with things to do and people to see
later
Hotness!
Heat!
I could throw one into a hollow log!
not like when I was young
when I was ridin the rocket
I had some reflexes then
I could make some poise out of nuthin’
now I’m a swamp creature
and the crude is close to the surface
black gold
dark and gurgling
hotness
I cant believe myself
last ride of a mad, blind cowboy
throwin one into the world
hotness
heat
throwin one into the world, well 1/2 of it
throwin one into a hollow log
a dog on a chain
and not just for practice, for real!
I need it!
didja know the brain sits steeped in semen ? and you women think that
way too?
primordial cooze
antediluvian spoof
I’m chained to an idiot, I’m caught in a hairy lasso
I am not winged
only in the wounded sense
standin on a street corner
waitin for anyone
I am horned
I understand that unicorny stuff
I am shod and bewigged and foolish
I am not winged , only in the wounded sense
I copped a beauty, a flesh wound
I ain’t just horny, I am horned
it ain’t cute nor funny
I’m takin a solo, and the sheet music keeps happening
and the train aint gonna stop
its an old song, I must know how it goes
but I keep gettin’ surprised , I’m so dumb
I am cleft, I am horned
I am bereft of reason
this girl in the hood
with the enormous shades and the earphones is drivin’ me insane
I will assume the heroic pose
paper in one hand, pencil flyin’ across the page
words tumblin’ from my hand
I look away as I write like a guitar player
I am horned
I am hooved, grey silver back smilin best
I have heard the news, theres some sort of rockin’ tonight
theres a whole lotta shakin’ gin on
I’m ready teddy
I’m cocked and loaded
I’m lookin for some tush
I understand nothin’ but I can explain everything
The lion I shoot, and I never miss...would you lay down while I have one
I’m bad
I’m ripe
I’m rotten
I aint thinkin I am rockin
the train is lookin for a station and I am nothin but shame I am shame
full
I am a little red rooster, please drive me home
I have grown so ugly
I looked into the mirror....oooooh!
I’m born to kill
I am become death
I am the stuff of poems, I am the greatest , I am the base matter
its sad....I’m my only hope
love pull us down where we belong
dont worry
I dont exist
this is just a voice from the wind
are you a model?
are there thousands just like you?
so easy
so easy to find an enemy , so hard to find a friend
so far to go to feel a generous soul
into the past, over the sea
everybodys on the lookout for someone
whos gonna sink the slippers in
better to get in first
its the way of the world,
the real world, pal
so hard to drop my hands from my face to shade my guts for a while
so easy to find an enemy , so hard to find a friend
we're cuttin each others throats
and steppin on the faces of the rest
yeah we won't be comin back this way
(it's so sad we couldn't have had the brains)
fightin over this, fightin over that
property, a place in the queue
so hard to imagine a world outside where it doesn't have to be this way
so easy to fall in hate
the night swamps the day
,see a monster in a good friend
so easy to find an enemy , so hard to find a friend
so far to go to feel a generous soul
into the past, over the sea
Oakleigh Bowie blues
walkin the streets
lookin for a way out
pubs are shut to me
car yards and supermarkets
stroke mag shops
pockets are empty
me and a cop car
down in the bottom
I do the fuckin 'round 'round here
course I'm talkin now
now I'm in a place where I can see myself
back then I'm fallin down
my heads under a trucks tyre
I put it there
I'm blind
I'm underneath the world
I do the fuckin 'round 'round here
walkin the street
runnin out of the world
back livin with my folks
sick of bummin them out too
sleepin in the shed
too drunk to get in again
I do the fuckin 'round 'round here
the wind is moanin through me
I'm breathin hard
my eyes are closed
I learned to control my pulse
somewhere
who am I talkin to?
I don’t wanna go bush
I’ll tell you why
out on the backroads
those narrow roads seem to be elevated
its like you’re on a bridge and the land is the sea
you could fall off any time
the backroads of naracoorte
bulbous,maggotted,flyblown sheep
lonely crows, roaming murderous goats in your way
and then Dominic! Coming along silently, all dressed in heavy cloth
with his horse and buggy
never lookin’ at you
at least while you’re lookin’ at him
and people stare with their hungry eyes
taking you into their dry, halfclosed eyes
and they talk out of the sides of their mouths
and even the flies are goin’ mad
no I don’t wanna go bush
I wanna stay here
just on the edge of the city
so I can see the valley, the coast and the plain
I wanna keep my eye on all of ’em
I don’t wanna go bush
that’s where things catch up with you
like the branches reach down and grab ya
and you have to make do and get on with it and don’t be silly
2068 babe
"68 babe, 68
lets get it straight babe, 68
don't want any o' those golden tones
laid back summer nights
flowers , sweetness lights
afterglow
68 babe
bring on the broken glass, the petrol fumes the shoutin'
the runnin' the class
the idea, the act
the truncheons, the barricades
68 babe
you keep sayin' you weren't even born then
hey the times are always changin'
your eyes can see, your eyes can see so much more
includin' those before
you know I got a book of perfumed pictures
Richard Burton picked 'em up at the bazaar
you know those eastern potentates really knew how to take their time
68 babe, talk some crap
don't turn your back on your class, yeah, turn your back on your class
I know we'll have to do without the creature comforts
the cushions, the shades
people who know how to behave
68 babe
I had it with the good of the nation
68 babe, molotov cocktails , shaken and thrown
the stooges rehearsin in an ann arbor basement stoned
underground railways, pistol packin weathermen
wheatfields, motels, lost highways
wichita lineman singin in the wire
deserted playgrounds, dune buggies, pianos in the sand
burned out space capsules return each night
grievin' astro widow chartin her lovers flight
68 babe
assassinate our love
watch your bourgeois feelins as the show
lie about your past
the struggle, the soup, the freight trains
68 babe, assassinate my pants
I'll be your candidate
I'll feature in your revolutionary plans
68 babe
my love is a long range missile
you got me in your scope
68 babe
make me a part of your plans
indoctrinate me babe
68 babe
everythin' is camouflaged
everythin' is black and white
68 me babe, set my world to rights
everybody knows, everybody knows everythin'
I know the shop floor is empty
and the factory stacks are closed
the times are a changin'
but the frontier is comin back
only we're on the other side
and we're gonna be made sense of as we choose our soft drinks
68 babe, rise against your oppressor
recognise him, fear and loathe her
68 babe, read the riot act
assassinate some desire
68 babe
Graney
Sir David
Lt Colonel
Australia
Cavalry
Pacific theatre
it was a righteous, good war
almost fun
bohemian, international, 30 year old police action
imported records
imported magazines
cold hard stares
walkin down the street
we believed in the mob, the genius of the crowd
they threw half full bottles from passing cars
stopped and chased us down
we had to lose
we had to lose
thats what it was all about
we had to lose
we were inside enemy territory
they fell asleep across our supply lines...."
Lyrics to Heroic Blues (2002)
lyrics to SUPERMODIFIED (2010
Lyrics to YOU"VE BEEN IN MY MIND (2012)
lyrics to FEARFUL WIGGINGS (2014)
Lyrics to Hashish? (2005)